Don Whitman’s 1950’s Beefcake Photographs

Jim Dardanis

Don Whitman was one of the leading exponents of male physique photography back in the days when censorship and society in general expected the models to keep a modicum of decency in their poses. When he left the Navy after WW2 in 1947 he started the Western Photography Guild which remained active for the next 50 years.

In 1950 Whitman also co-founded the Mr. Colorado Bodybuilding Competition which served as a showcase for local talent. He not only photographed many of the competitors, but he also served as the competition director from 1950 until 1972. Although Whitman continued to work until his death in 1998, he will always be best known for his seminal ‘beefcake’ photographs from the 1950’s, which thanks to Whitman’s nephew Andy Dimler, prints of which are still available today via http://www.wpgprints.com/